Dragon Publishing released Dragon #98 in June 1985. It is 100 pages long and has a cover price of $3.00. This issue features dragons, magical relics, and apocalyptic monsters!
The cover is by Denis Beauvais and is his sixth painting for Dragon Magazine. Called "Allegory," it depicts a dragon's lair littered with office paraphernalia. Interior artists include Keith Parkinson, Jeff Easley, Roger Raupp, Bob Maurus, Valerie Valusek, Jim Holloway, Dave LaForce, Tim Truman, Richard Hentz, Dave Trampier, Tony Moseley, Joseph Pillsbury, and Larry Elmore.
This issue's special attraction is the "Mutant Manual," a collection of mostly reader-contributed creatures for Gamma World. There's plenty of variety, with everything from blade whales to harmony trees to bot bashers, though some entries are more creative than others. Your enjoyment will depend upon your tolerance for Gamma World silliness, but this article seems long overdue.
To celebrate the magazine's ninth anniversary, they've included a commemorative anniversary section called Dragonlore, containing four feature articles on their favourite subject.
Roger E. Moore leads with "Tailor-Made Treasure," a richly developed essay on how and why dragons collect treasure. Drawing inspiration from Tolkien, Beowulf, and folklore, Moore portrays dragons as status-conscious predators whose hoards reflect their personalities, histories, and intelligence. It is the sort of superb article that Moore excels at, combining careful research with an eye for the gaming table.
Gregg Chamberlain follows with "The Magic of Dragon Teeth," a flavorful entry that plants a new magic item into the AD&D game - one that summons mighty dragon warriors. Drawing on Greek mythology, the article outlines the rules for the use and creation of these remarkable items. It's a solid piece that would have benefited from whole stat blocks for the dragon warriors. Chamberlain published many articles for Dragon.
Leonard Carpenter's "Dragon Damage Revised" is a rules expansion for DMs who want dragons to hit harder. It's a common-sense solution to a real problem in the design of AD&D dragons, and it is just one page long. Carpenter wrote several articles for Dragon and later published eleven Conan novels for Tor.
Finally, Roger E. Moore returns with "The Dragons of Krynn," fleshing out the titular creatures of Dragonlance. We learn about such matters as dragonsleep, the mystery of the Oath, and the motives of Dragon Highlords. It's solid (if brief) setting lore. Moore later published several Dragonlance books and stories.
We have a gaggle of other features. Ken Hughes contributes "Creative Magic Items," which demonstrates how to create new magic items for AD&D. It's a much needed article but doesn't provide the sort of insight I'd like. Hughes contributed just one other piece to Dragon, back in issue #41.
Jim Dutton continues his series on campaign design with "Detailing a Fantasy World," aimed at DMs building large-scale settings. He discusses the creation of political structures, heroes and villains, and cultural uniqueness. As mentioned last month, Dutton was president of a PBM company called Entertainment Concepts Inc. It has been challenging to find information about this organisation, as it appears to have been short-lived.
John C. Bunnell reviews Dragons of Autumn Twilight and Dragons of Winter Night (both by Weis and Hickman) in "It's a Neat Idea, But…" He praises the strong character work, pacing, and the effective transition from module to novel form. He concludes that the books are "a great deal better than many readers are likely to expect, and they are good enough to stand alongside much of the material available from the field’s more established publishers."
Dave Rosene's "Knowing What's in Store" describes four shop types commonly found in fantasy cities: the blacksmith, leatherworker, silversmith, and tanner. It combines historical details with a brief piece of fiction, illustrating what each shop would be like in a fantasy setting. It appears well researched, though the fiction was hardly compelling. This article was Rosene's only published RPG credit.
In "Auctions Aren't Forbidding," Tim Stabosz provides a helpful guide to gaming auctions, particularly those held at conventions. He explains how bidding works, how to avoid common pitfalls, and how different types of bidders behave. It is just one page long and provides a nice glimpse into the hobby culture of the time. Stabosz published no other RPG content.
Merle and Jackie Rasmussen present more real-world outfits for Top Secret play in "Authentic Agencies, Part II." As with the preceding part, it's an excellent resource for espionage games.
Ardath Mayhar's "The Forging of Fear" is a grim short story about a blacksmith's unique revenge for a terrible crime. It is excellent, with nuanced characters and a hauntingly original concept. Mayhar published over 60 books across multiple genres.
The ARES section returns with 14 pages of science fiction and superhero goodness. It includes 5 articles:
The cover is by Denis Beauvais and is his sixth painting for Dragon Magazine. Called "Allegory," it depicts a dragon's lair littered with office paraphernalia. Interior artists include Keith Parkinson, Jeff Easley, Roger Raupp, Bob Maurus, Valerie Valusek, Jim Holloway, Dave LaForce, Tim Truman, Richard Hentz, Dave Trampier, Tony Moseley, Joseph Pillsbury, and Larry Elmore.
This issue's special attraction is the "Mutant Manual," a collection of mostly reader-contributed creatures for Gamma World. There's plenty of variety, with everything from blade whales to harmony trees to bot bashers, though some entries are more creative than others. Your enjoyment will depend upon your tolerance for Gamma World silliness, but this article seems long overdue.
To celebrate the magazine's ninth anniversary, they've included a commemorative anniversary section called Dragonlore, containing four feature articles on their favourite subject.
Roger E. Moore leads with "Tailor-Made Treasure," a richly developed essay on how and why dragons collect treasure. Drawing inspiration from Tolkien, Beowulf, and folklore, Moore portrays dragons as status-conscious predators whose hoards reflect their personalities, histories, and intelligence. It is the sort of superb article that Moore excels at, combining careful research with an eye for the gaming table.
Gregg Chamberlain follows with "The Magic of Dragon Teeth," a flavorful entry that plants a new magic item into the AD&D game - one that summons mighty dragon warriors. Drawing on Greek mythology, the article outlines the rules for the use and creation of these remarkable items. It's a solid piece that would have benefited from whole stat blocks for the dragon warriors. Chamberlain published many articles for Dragon.
Leonard Carpenter's "Dragon Damage Revised" is a rules expansion for DMs who want dragons to hit harder. It's a common-sense solution to a real problem in the design of AD&D dragons, and it is just one page long. Carpenter wrote several articles for Dragon and later published eleven Conan novels for Tor.
Finally, Roger E. Moore returns with "The Dragons of Krynn," fleshing out the titular creatures of Dragonlance. We learn about such matters as dragonsleep, the mystery of the Oath, and the motives of Dragon Highlords. It's solid (if brief) setting lore. Moore later published several Dragonlance books and stories.
We have a gaggle of other features. Ken Hughes contributes "Creative Magic Items," which demonstrates how to create new magic items for AD&D. It's a much needed article but doesn't provide the sort of insight I'd like. Hughes contributed just one other piece to Dragon, back in issue #41.
Jim Dutton continues his series on campaign design with "Detailing a Fantasy World," aimed at DMs building large-scale settings. He discusses the creation of political structures, heroes and villains, and cultural uniqueness. As mentioned last month, Dutton was president of a PBM company called Entertainment Concepts Inc. It has been challenging to find information about this organisation, as it appears to have been short-lived.
John C. Bunnell reviews Dragons of Autumn Twilight and Dragons of Winter Night (both by Weis and Hickman) in "It's a Neat Idea, But…" He praises the strong character work, pacing, and the effective transition from module to novel form. He concludes that the books are "a great deal better than many readers are likely to expect, and they are good enough to stand alongside much of the material available from the field’s more established publishers."
Dave Rosene's "Knowing What's in Store" describes four shop types commonly found in fantasy cities: the blacksmith, leatherworker, silversmith, and tanner. It combines historical details with a brief piece of fiction, illustrating what each shop would be like in a fantasy setting. It appears well researched, though the fiction was hardly compelling. This article was Rosene's only published RPG credit.
In "Auctions Aren't Forbidding," Tim Stabosz provides a helpful guide to gaming auctions, particularly those held at conventions. He explains how bidding works, how to avoid common pitfalls, and how different types of bidders behave. It is just one page long and provides a nice glimpse into the hobby culture of the time. Stabosz published no other RPG content.
Merle and Jackie Rasmussen present more real-world outfits for Top Secret play in "Authentic Agencies, Part II." As with the preceding part, it's an excellent resource for espionage games.
Ardath Mayhar's "The Forging of Fear" is a grim short story about a blacksmith's unique revenge for a terrible crime. It is excellent, with nuanced characters and a hauntingly original concept. Mayhar published over 60 books across multiple genres.
The ARES section returns with 14 pages of science fiction and superhero goodness. It includes 5 articles:
- "The Volturnus Connection" by Stephen Bonario provides a campaign backdrop for Star Frontiers.
- "When History Goes Awry" by Mark Acres explores alternate historical parallels for Timemaster.
- "Alone Against the Asteroid" by Stephen James offers a solitaire version of the Asteroid wargame.
- "Return to the Viper's Pit" by Kim Eastland expands the Marvel Super Heroes adventure recently published by TSR.
- "The Marvel-Phile" by Jeff Grubb presents the first index of Marvel Super Heroes characters.
). Such rules could be used for handling jousting, duels, judicial combat, or anything else that might allow interesting interactions between the social and combat pillars of D&D or similar games. Both PCs and NPCs might be able to challenge people to duels in order to settle disputes. This might work well with something like the honor point rules from OA. There would need to be some way to deter the kind of exploits that cropped up in real dueling cultures, which power gamers would definitely try to rediscover and use.
